Week 1:

Week 2:

This week, Rich led off with a win, followed by a win from Michael, who was determined to avenge his losses from Week 1.  Andrew and John dropped two games, but wins from Mindy / Fred put us up 4-2 early on.

Rich / Andrew led off in Cricket and posted another sweep in the early season.  Fred / John split, and Rebecca / Michael split when they dropped a tough second game in which they looked like they would win.  At this point, The Ship was looking good with a comfy 8-4 lead.

Things became somewhat tenuous when the always strong Fred / John pairing dropped the first game of D501 on a lucky double-out.  But the ever-reliable Michael / Rebecca duo posted a win in game two.  Rich / Andrew took forever to double-in.  They nearly came back, but got beaten by an unbelievable double-double-eight-out.  The Ship walked away with a 10-8 win, and what should be a lock on first place in the division.

Props:
Michael - For reversing the tide from Week One (and a sweet hog).

Week 3:

Fred opened things up with an early win, which included a Ton-21.  Michael, Rich and Rebecca followed with three wins, all of which ended on double-1 outs. Andrew stepped up tentatively against a rookie opponent and kept things interesting, but despite his assurance that he was "gonna lose this game," he also won easily.  With Heidi benefiting from a forfeit in the last game, The Ship was off to a big start, up 6-0.

Things kept getting better when Fred / Mindy started off Cricket with two wins.  Rebecca / Michael followed up by cruising through two 2-on-1 games with wins.  In the last round, Rich / Andrew played two tight games that both came down to bull, and The Ship walked away with both wins.  The Cricket sweep put us up 12-0.  You think you've got it, oh, you think you've got it...

John threw back a few drinks to get ready for D501, and promptly stepped right up and doubled-in on his first dart.  He and Mindy played a smooth game and posted yet another win that ended on double-1.  Rebecca / Michael continued the streak with not only a win in game two, but a midget tossing against the bar for whom the term is named.  The last game for Rich / Andrew was 2-on-1, and it was fairly close until Rich stepped up with 85 on the board and threw a two-dart 85-out for the final win.  Alright now Ship, now what's cooler than bein' cool?  18-0.

Props:
The Squad - For an unprecedented evening.

Week 4:

Week 5:

Most of The Ship was on hand for the match, except Ms. Robinson, who was newly homeward bound.  Despite the strong turnout, right off the bat we dropped six straight games of S501.  The sound of silence was deafening at the team table, as we seemed to run into a wall no matter how hard we tried in every game.

When Cricket came around, the night kept slip slidin' away, as we were swept in the first two games.  Rich / Andrew played great in their first game, right up until the end when they lost.  But finally, The Ship broke threw with a win in game two, and there appeared to be a glimmer of hope.

Michael / Nacho kept the momentum going with a win to start off D501, and suddenly we had a groovy thing going on.  Fred / Rebecca kept things rolling along with a win in game two, and suddenly The Ship was feelin' groovy about this match.  But it was late in the evening, and Rich / Andrew needed to come up big.  They were able to get into the game on their first throw, but they quickly fell behind and ultimately came up short.  The two wins in doubles helped us out tremendously, making the final score 5-13, which would certainly look better in black & white.

Props:
Fred - The Ansel Adams of the cellphone.

Week 6:

There were no happy little clouds when Rich dropped game one, but Fred came back with a very strong win that included a Ton-20 and a few 80+ rounds.  Rebecca dropped a game, but the rest of The Ship picked her up, sweeping the rest of the round.  Michael, Andrew and John all won, painting a nice background with The Ship up 4-2.

Cricket was a back-and-forth affair, with splits in every round.  Rich / Andrew almost won two, but got caught in game one before taking the second.  Rebecca / Michael continued their solid teamwork with a win in game one to earn a split.  Fred / John also rolled in their first game, and also walked away with one of two, to leave The Ship up 7-5.

Looking to put a fancy frame on the evening, The Ship sent Fred / John to the line.  And with a few deft strokes, they painted a victory.  Michael / Rebecca had a close game, but they were also able to paint the town with a win.  With a chance to sign the masterpiece, Rich / Andrew got in quickly.  While Turner had a Ton, he got no help, and they dropped the final game.  But, The Ship still walked away with an 11-7 win, and a tidy profit.

Props:
Andrew - 420 AS points, and a trip to the store.  And he would have done even better if he wasn't saddled with Rich all night.

Week 7:

Blame it all on the darts, or the tattooing tarts, who crashed our weekly affair.  Whatever it was, there was a lot of strange things happening around the oche this week.  But don't worry if you missed it, and don't try and deny it, 'cause we got pictures.

This Tuesday, we slipped on down to the Oooo-verlook Bar for our our weekly endeavor.  Michael set the tone for the night, continuing his strong season with an opening game win.  Rich was steamrolled in game two, and Mindy dropped game three to end her perfect record, but did grab her first AS points of the season.  Then, after Rich shouted out the wrong out, John did the math and nailed a big out to win.  Andrew followed with a win, and Fred dropped the last game in a squeaker to give The Ship a split in S501.

After a relaxing break on the rooftop veranda, Michael / Andrew opened Cricket with a sweep, including a C3 winner in game one.  Fred / John showed a mastery of bulls in their split, nearly winning both by hitting corks.  In game three, Rich / Nacho split, despite an amazing display of bull-hitting by Nacho.  So, as the smooth strains of "American Pie" and "Rapper's Delight" serenaded us over the PA, The Ship eased out to a 7-5 lead.

After a shot of Jaeger, it was time for John to belt out his rendition of "Friends In Low Places," and the joint was suitably rockin' for the start of D501.  Michael / Andrew played strong, but got caught at the end to drop game one.  Rich / Mindy rolled in game two, as the other team had trouble getting in.  In the last game, Fred / John fell behind but stayed with it and after Rich shouted out the wrong out, Fred did the math and nailed a big out to win.  Then, with a strong 11-7 win (and some fried ravioli) under our belts, The Ship just said goodnight and showed ourselves to the door.

Props:
John - The pictures, and 3 wins, speak for themselves.

Week 8:

Enjoy a few of the pictures.

Week 9:

We came out of the blocks firing in S501.  Michael led off with a win, followed by wins from Rich, Andrew, Fred, John and Rebecca.  Rebecca's game included 190 AS points, and capped a S501 sweep, putting us up 6-0.

Rich / Andrew broke the winning streak in the first game of Cricket, but they bounced back to win game two. The Ship got back on the winning track, though, with sweeps from Michael / Rebecca and Fred / John, both of which included hugely clutch throws.  Michael threw a R5 to close out two numbers and Fred threw a C3 to draw a match even, and these throws helped guide The Ship to an 11-1 lead.

The other team brought in some hired hands for D501.  Despite this, Michael / Rebecca nearly won the first game, but were narrowly edged.  But The Ship finished things off with two wins in D501 from Fred / John and Rich / Andrew, to bring an end to a commanding 15-3 night.

Props:
Fred / John - Another undefeated night.  Now Freeze!

Week 10:

Loaded up on tons of sushi, Rich started things off a little sluggishly, taking his game all the way to double-1's before finally winning.  Fred followed with a win, but the sushi bogged down John and Heidi and they both dropped their games.  Nacho came through with his usual win off the bench, and Mindy's loss evened the match at 3-3. 

But didn't I say The Ship plays well at The Edge?  With Fred's pairings in place, Rich / Nacho started things off with a sweep in the first round of Cricket.  Fred / John followed with a sweep of their own.  And then, in a real shocker, Mindy / Heidi closed out the round with a sweep to give us a 9-3 lead.

Going with the same award-winning roster, Rich / Nacho posted an early win in game one.  Fred / John followed up with another win, and The Ship was cruising to the finish.  With two in the Hootie, Mindy / Heidi were looking to put one in the Blowfish for the D501 sweep.  Unfortunately, they were unable to make the final game a showstopper, but despite the loss The Ship finished with a 13-5 win and moved into sole possession of first place.

Props:
Nacho - Undefeated on the night.
Fred - Undefeated, including a masterful night with the line-up.
Rich - Undefeated, unless you count being The Donkey.

Week 11:

To paraphrase The Who:

Pictures of Roger made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Roger helped me sleep at night
Pictures of Roger solved my childhood problems
Pictures of Roger helped me feel alright

Pictures of Roger
Roger, oh Roger
Roger, oh Roger
Pictures of Roger

Week 12:

This week The Ship  mixed up another batch of darts goodness, but there is no way that Floyd knew what was being added to the mixture this week.  So now begins the changin' and mental rearrangin' that is the weekly update.

The Ship started out strong with wins from Rich and Nacho, raising Congressional inquiries as to whether or not they were using "the cream" from BALCO.  But the questions evaporated when The Ship dropped the next four games in a row, ending S501 down 4-2.

Looking to nip the losing streak in the bud, we sent out Rich / Nacho to play Cricket, and they returned with a split.  Fred / John snipped their winning streak by dropping both games in round two.  Luckily Andrew / Michael were able to pump some life into the squad with a win, although we were still down eight to four(skin facial cream).

The Ship ended up getting rubbed the wrong way in D501, as well.  Fred / John were once again impotent in their loss.  Michael / Heidi played a fantastic game, but were not able to stick it in for the win.  Only Andrew / Rich / Phil Taylor's darts were able to drive one home by winning game three, to end the night as a 12-6 loss for The Ship.

Props:
Phil "The Power" Taylor - I can't believe it took five years for him to make it.
NationalDarts.com - For the new Unicorns.

Week13 :

A distant early warning sounded early in the evening, when The Ship dropped its first four games in a row.  John proved himself to be a New World Man when he finally broke through and got us off the schneid, but The Ship ended S501 down 5-1, and causing the terror level to be bumped up to... Blackwatch Plaid!

Rich / Andrew showed some Grace Under Pressure, by taking one game to start Cricket.  Rebecca / Mindy didn't feel the caress of steel, and they dropped two games.  John  / Fred proved we are no fly-by-night operation, by picking up  a split in the last game.  But still, with The Ship down 9-3, we raised the warning system from "Blackwatch Plaid" to the cover of Rush's seminal album "Moving Pictures".

Answering the call, Rich / Andrew posted a win in game one of D501.  Fred / John followed up by winning a big money game in round two.  At this point, time seemed to stand still, as The Ship had a chance to walk away with a tie for the evening with one more win.  Mindy / Rebecca put up a tough fight, but weren't able to close it out, and we ended the night with an 11-7 loss. 

Props:
John - Three wins.  A modern-day warrior, mean mean stride.

Week 14:

This week, The Ship was focused on 10-8.  A 10-8 win would give us a strong chance to win our subdivision (and bring home a trophy).  But this would prove to be a tough back-and-forth match, with neither team giving an inch.

In S501, Nacho ("The Machine"), Michael and Mindy all posted wins.  Nacho showed he was automatic as usual when he nailed a huge out, and Michael was particularly sharp, teasing the out before finally nailing it. Cricket proved to be the same as S501, with neither team giving an inch.  We split every round, making the score 6-6 after two rounds.  Fred / Andrew dropped the first game of D501, but Rebecca / Michael came back with an enormous win in game two against their top pair.  The final game came down to doubling out, but Rich / Nacho just missed, and The Ship ended up on the short end of the 10-8 score.  It was a great match that was competitive, fun, and a perfect tune-up for our  playoff run.

Season Notes:

Once again, The Ship set sail to new heights this season.  For the third season in a row, we finished the season in sole possession of 3rd place.  Despite having to deal with 4 BYE weeks, we had 6 wins and only 4 weeks in which we lost.  Plus, we won a match 16-2 which was eventually voided because of a forfeit, and we won a match 18-0, which is amazing (and rare).  Finally, we had our best overall winning percentage ever, which really shows how much we've improved.

Season-Ending Props: